


I'm Fine

by shakespearespaz



Category: The Purge (Movies), The Purge: Election Year (2016)
Genre: F/M, If you read it that way, Implied Relationships, Mild Language, Unresolved Sexual Tension, it's like the same level of implied as the film itself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 17:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7517771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shakespearespaz/pseuds/shakespearespaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small scenes with Charlie and Leo in the aftermath of Purge night. Nothing is really resolved, this is more just a study in interactions between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Fine

They were both naïve to think this was over. Just because sunlight flooded the bloodied streets with clean morning light didn’t mean Leo was leaving her side.

Charlie stayed with Laney who stayed with Joe. The powers that still were stomped loudly around the church not long after daybreak, and that’s when he knew it was time to go. Of course, she fought him on it. It was Laney who finally convinced Charlie to follow him out the door, and only by giving the Senator her phone number and email address. It was absurd, amongst the carnage. But this was what Charlie did, built connections, earned trust, moved mountains through contacts. It was why he’d spent the night risking his life to help her, for the idea of a better future she was slowly sowing.

It was getting easier to separate the two though, separate her from what she represented, separate the dream of a new era from her quickening pulse and wide, terrified eyes. He’d told himself as the sun was setting that if anything happened to her, then their better future would be lost. But the night was a blur, and he couldn’t pinpoint the moment. Perhaps it was when he saw the rooftop snipers dead, or watched her tasered a split second before he blacked out. Maybe it was simply the heavy weight of her hand across his shoulder, buttoning his shirt, clasped in his, that led him to he realize that if anything happened to her, then _something would have happened to her._

He wasn’t taking any chances. Her home was destroyed, his was not a home. He headed towards the nicest hotel he could think of, situated downtown, in one of the bullet ridden cars.

“We need to get you to a hospital.” It wasn’t a question; it never was from her.

“The triage doctors did just fine.”

“Leo—“

“You can fight me all you want, Senator. I’m driving.”

The city was quiet and destroyed. Most purgers had quit, but many citizens still sheltered in their homes.

“Leo!”

He slammed on the brakes, his heart racing.

“What is it? Are you hurt?”

She swiveled to look at him. Without her glasses she looked even more vulnerable, and her bloodshot eyes watered.

“The rest of the campaign staff…what if they went after them? We need to make contact with everyone, just make sure…” She leaned her head against the head rest. “If anyone was hurt because they were connected to me…”

He snaked out his hand, closing it gently over her arm.

“We’ll check in with everyone after we set up a home base. They knew the risks.”

He waited for her to nod before he kept driving.

Neither had any family to contact. Exhaustion was setting in, as the adrenaline slowly drained. Sleep was out of the question. He pulled in front of the hotel, left the car on the curb, and they passed armed guards into the lobby. People sat in every corner, mostly middle-class families whose homes were toast, Leo guessed. He pulled Charlie close to him as they wove to the front desk.

“We need a room.”

“We’re charging our highest rates right now—”

“That’s fine.”

“—And, sir, all that’s left is the honeymoon suite. No one wants to pay for it.”

“I said we’ll take it.”

The receptionist nodded and took his information down. Keycards in hand, he opted for the stairs.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cant?” Charlie asked, a teasing note woven alongside her tired, heavy tone.

“Just because we took the head off the snake, doesn’t mean there are more tails flopping around. Besides, there’s one head we didn’t take out.”

“That will help us in the long run, Leo.”

He sighed instead of arguing and grabbed her hand, quickening their pace up the stairs.

\--

The phone rang. Charlie snapped her head up, startled. It cut through the sound of Leo in the shower, an unwelcome invasion into the privacy of the expansive room.

Instinct kicked in, and she answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Charlie.”

She froze. She knew that voice, and it all washed over her: the church, the priest’s sunken face, the glint of light across stainless steel, Owens’ snarling face inches from her own, his body straddling her. The memory of the sticky smell of her own blood and his sweat and spit sent the air fleeing from her lungs. Charlie knotted her hand in the sheets, a crutch, and tried to find whatever courage she had left over from the night. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hanging up, not when she would still have to face him in the months to come.

“Owens.”

He coughed violently. He’d come close to death himself.

“It’s Father, Charlie. Show some respect.”

She wanted to laugh but the sound caught in her thought.

“Well, just calling to say that I look forward to the election, Senator.”

She heard rustling, but before he could hang up she spoke.

“Wait.”

He quieted; she had a captive listener.

“I just wanted to say that I hope you rot in hell before then, you son of the bitch.”

She hung up with a click, trying to ignore the goosebumps creeping along her arms. Charlie looked up to find Leo at the foot of the bed, a towel around his waist.

“Don’t tell me that—”

“It was the minister.”

“God fucking—” He was over to the phone in a moment, dialing aggressively as Charlie tried to stop him. “The nerve of the fucking—” Through the receiver, Charlie heard the high-pitched voice of the front desk receptionist answering. “I need to speak to your supervisor,” Leo barked.

“Leo—”

“What do you mean he’s not available? You better make him available or I’m—”

“Leo!”

Her hand was on his wrist, and he gently lowered the phone.

“What?” he didn’t hide his irritation; he didn’t hide much of anything.

“Why don’t you go put some pants on, and then we’ll deal with this. Okay?”

Charlie thought that there was a little bit of a blush spreading along his cheeks.

“Um, right.”

He stopped himself before turning away, before uncoupling his wrist from her hand.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’ll live,” she replied steadily, “Now go get dressed, before I decide that I like this view better.”

Maybe it was the heat from the shower, but she swore that his face turned an even deeper red. She was sad to see his hand go as he turned and headed back towards the bathroom.

\--

Leo spread the sticky notes across the bed. He didn’t know how the Senator remembered information so well—dates, personal anecdotes, names, telephone numbers. He relied on intuitive as his main and arguably only tool. Details were not his strong suit.

“I’m leaving the door open.” He voice floated from the bathroom.

“Do you need help?” he answered. He could hear the soft thud of clothing hitting the floor.

“I’m good, Leo.” She paused. “Just don’t really want to be by myself.”

He nodded, even though he realized moments later that she couldn’t see him. The sound of running water started shortly afterwards anyway. He turned back to the notes, trying to clear invasive images of her skin marred by blood and bruises from his overly active mind. 

They’d almost made it through all the numbers Charlie could recall for her staff. Home numbers, cell numbers, a couple of email addresses—the Senator couldn’t help but care deeply for everyone she worked with and met. For all her recklessness and naiveté, that was her strength and it was almost instantly endearing.

Leo worried about the effect of the night on her morale.

He remembered her pausing after jotting down a number, before she viciously tore the paper into pieces. The betrayal of their own men hurt and had almost killed. If she’d just agreed to the safe house, he could have spared her so much pain and kept her from reliving the horrors of the night for the first time in many years. Where his experience had made him almost indifferent to violence, he wondered at how hers had made her that much more of a pacifist.

There had been no fatalities among her staff so far, and he set about calling the rest. For her sake, Leo tried to be as friendly and comforting as he possibly could. It was a struggle. Not long had passed before she emerged from the bathroom, clothed in sweatpants with Washington, D.C. scrawled down the leg and a t-shirt bearing a faded US flag t-shirt. Leo had acquired them from the gift store in the lobby.

“Any news?”

She learned over, throwing a towel over her head. Leo watched her, trying to figure exactly how she managed to get all her hair twisted up in the towel like that.

“Everyone’s okay, although I can’t get a hold of Maria.”

Charlie nodded. “We’ll keep trying.”

Leo held out his hand and gestured to her. “Come here.”

“Are you beckoning me like a dog?”

“You’re cuter than a dog. No, let me see that head wound.”

She perched on the edge of the bed, and he moved towards her. “It’s not bleeding anymore, and it doesn’t hurt. It’s fine, Leo.”

“Any dizziness, any difficulty focusing, balance issues, anything—”

“No. I’d tell you if there were. But I’m not the one who got _shot_.”

She moved her face into his line of sight, forcing him to make eye contact. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips in that certain way that often rendered him helpless.

“I’ll live,” he retorted. “Weren’t you going to call Laney?”

Charlie nodded, and Leo reached across the bed to find the correct note. He handed her a small, white napkin, and she moved to phone. Charlie sat at the head of the bed, rolling the napkin between her fingers.

She was going to call, she just said so, but still she sat there staring at the number.

“Leo?” Her voice eked out, soft and gentle.

“Hmm?”

“I, uh, can’t read it. Not without my glasses.”

She need not say more. He sunk onto the bed next to her, taking the slip from her slender fingers. Leo leaned over her to reach the phone. He dialed, appreciating the light sensation of her hand resting on his back.

After taking the phone, Charlie entered networking mode. She sat up slightly straighter, her voice echoed confidently around the room. She barely acknowledged him, but the hand that had been on his back migrated to his thigh, and stayed there throughout the call.

\--

Charlie’s eyelids felt heavy, and she knew that she couldn’t resist the call of sleep for long. She settled back into the pillows, briefly shutting her eyes. She forced them back open after a moment.

“Sleep, Charlie. I’ll be right here.”

“You’ll wake me if Laney or Maria call?”

“Of course.”

Charlie let her eyes sink shut again, comforted by his solid weight only a foot or so away. She realized it as her brain was in the process of shutting down.

“You called me Charlie.”

“It’s your name.”

She wanted to open her eyes, take in his face at what felt like a monumental occasional for them, but she was losing her battle with exhaustion.

“You never call me by name, though.”

“It’s kinda a weird one. For a politician at least.”

She faked scoffing at him, which turned into a half-hearted laugh.

“It’s short for Charlotte, Mr. Leonardo.”

It was his turn to chuckle. She pried her eyes open for that, meeting his gaze in the process. He smiled a rare smile. Someone in the next room slammed a door, and they both jumped. Leo moved to lean against the headboard next to her.

“This isn’t over,” she said, half a declaration, half a question.

He stayed silent, and she could feel him watching her.

“You’re coming with me all the way to the White House.” Definitely not a question.

“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else, Senator.”

She shifted back into the pillows, closing her eyes again. With no one else to trust, it was a good thing she trusted him, completely and absolutely.

“At least until you can buy that retirement property in the Bahamas, right?" she prodded.

She felt him sink into the pillows next to her, so close that she could feel his body heat.

“Yeah, but I can wait for you to save the world first.”

Charlie wanted to reply and was going have the last word. Instead, she was asleep within moments, her head falling lightly against his shoulder.


End file.
